Word: kohoutek
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This week's Science story explores the vibrations in inner as well as outer space as Comet Kohoutek enters earth's solar system. "This is a sociohysteric happening," notes Associate Editor Frederic Golden, who wrote the story. "Astronomers are running around trying to get their equipment ready for observations, and the rest of us are excited by dramatic notions of what comets mean, especially during times of crisis." A former correspondent and editor for the Associated Press, Golden began writing science stories for TIME in the same way that Czech-born Astronomer Lubos Kohoutek discovered his celestial namesake...
...Washington, D.C., Correspondent Jerry Hannifin sought out the "Kohoutek People" at the Goddard Space Flight Center and interviewed their leader Dr. Stephen Maran, director of NASA'S Operation Kohoutek. Hannifin, a former student of celestial navigation, also consulted with local "sensitives" and was assured that Kohoutek's metaphysical "vibrations" were good. To fully appreciate this portent, Hannifin plans to attend a "celebration of consciousness" this week atop a high-rise apartment building in Washington, with his psyche - and his twelve-power telescope - in sharp focus...
...fiery visitor is called Kohoutek (after its discoverer, Czech Astronomer Luboš Kohoutek- pronounced Loo-bosh Ko-hoe-tek); it promises to rival and perhaps surpass in brightness Halley's comet, which last appeared in 1910 and will not be seen again until 1986. By the time Kohoutek emerges from its passage behind the sun early in January, its tail should be full grown, a glittering streamer extending across as much as a sixth of the evening sky. There is some chance that Kohoutek will not live up to all its billing - comets are notoriously unpredictable. Some split into...
...bagfuls of nothing," sniffed Percival Lowell, the turn-of-the-century astronomer who made a career of observing Mars. Since that putdown, scientists have learned to take comets more seriously-as primordial chunks of matter left over from the birth of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. Thus Kohoutek, which was spotted first at the Hamburg Observatory last March, offers a splendid opportunity for observers to learn more about the drama of creation. Indeed, because the comet was discovered so long before its close approach to the sun, there has been time for elaborate preparation. Kohoutek may well...
Comet Flight. Excitement about the comet is not confined to scientists. Planetariums round the world are drawing overflow crowds for Kohoutek shows. Telescopes and binoculars are being sold at an exceptionally brisk pace; Edmund Scientific Co., of Barrington, N.J., reports a 200% gain this year in its sale of telescopes; Los Angeles' Marschutz Optical Co. is completely sold out. This week the Queen Elizabeth 2 sailed from New York, booked to the gunwales with 1,693 passengers on a three-day comet cruise. Before dawn every morning, passengers were invited to the decks for telescope viewing and comet lectures...